No. 2 A Journal from an 84-year-old atheist
1. 8 March 2026
Church of Christ, Sturt Road, Brighton
I arrived about ten minutes before the service and explained to the greeters that I was conducting informal research. I took a seat near the rear beside four others.
A quick head count suggested an audience of 120.
Two elderly “Bald Brothers” provided walk-in music with acoustic guitars and vocal.
The man beside me handed me a small, sealed plastic cup containing a little dark liquid with a wafer under the lid. This was the Eucharist - symbolic blood and body of Christ.
Structure
The service opened with a hymn. Two projectors provided sur title lyrics on the proscenium. The priest, casually dressed and wearing a DPA head mic, was clearly audible.
Graham has a relaxed and charismatic style. His delivery resembles a stand-up comic who invites friendly responses from the audience. It was almost a laugh a line. His housekeeping announcements and pastoral updates are punctuated with abundant humour.
Two members of the congregation delivered readings followed by a hymn and a twenty-minute sermon on strength and resilience. After further hymns and prayers, the service concluded in an hour.
Afterwards I spoke with the sound and PowerPoint operators. Their equipment area is small but adequate. I asked about the small black devices mounted on the side walls. They are microphones used to capture congregational sound.
The Church
The building is a 1960s A-frame. The large eastern foyer contains scattered tables and a barista coffee station. The foyer opens directly into the church and allows pleasant morning light.
Inside, the church has an attractive architectural character. A three-metre wooden cross stands in the altar alcove, backlit with white, fluorescent light and topped by triangular stained glass.
The interior is bright, with pendant lighting and a high apex ceiling that gives the space a pleasant ambience.
Cohort
The congregation was overwhelmingly elderly with one baby present. At nearly eighty-four, I fitted.
The weekly bulletin claims first-time visitors attend regularly, suggesting either growth or at least demographic replacement.
The church runs an impressive list of community programmes including Chat & Choose, Prayer Group, 3Bs, Mainly Music, Camera Club and Grocer with a Heart.
As I left, I was intercepted by Graham the man who had given me the Eucharist and Graham the priest – the two Grahams. I explained my visit was to gather research for my un-official journal*.* We had a long and friendly conversation about my observations from other denominations.
Reflections
This is a place where very nice old people gather in a pleasant building to do good things. There is nothing pretentious about the way they practise their faith. I was surprised to learn from the bulletin that they offer full-immersion baptism. One wonders why they are not Baptists[1]. The community is so ordinary that there is little to report. That, I suspect, is exactly how they prefer it – a vanilla church.
2. 15 March 202
Saint Josephs Catholic Church Strathmore Terrace Brighton
Street parking was a problem. I used Brighton Rail station and had about a five-minute walk for a 10 o’clock mass. I arrived in good time only to see the service in full swing. My mistake, the mass started at 9.30am. I headed back to the car and segway ’ed on to a Baptist church nearby
4. 15 March 2026
Light Community Church Jetty Road Brighton
With five minutes to spare I parked right by the front door and took a seat in the rear behind the AV corral. A man quickly approached and introduced himself, Deon. He was the priest. A congregation of about thirty-five. A mixture of fertile couples, old people and nine very young children on stage. The oldest about nine. A hymn and a prayer and the priest gathered the congregation into birthday month groups. This service is a special one conducted by the children. I drift off to the April group. In my group is a 28- and 21-year-old man plus the preacher’s wife (she has three girls on stage) and a lady who shares the same birthday as me.
The church
From the outside the entrance looks like a modified 1920s bungalow. Big generous double glass doors open into a reception and coffee area. Beyond the foyer is the 19^(th) century church that has been widened to accommodate about two hundred. Inside it does not look like an old church - more like a performance space. The pews and prominent wooden cross are a reminder that it is a Christian church. The reception area has the toilets and an entrance to the church hall. The eastern side of the church has an attached kindy area that opens for outside play. The car park is limited to about fifteen spots. They would rely on street parking. The church is on Jetty Road Brighton lined with cafes, bling shops and the pub. It’s about a five-minute walk south to Brighton rail station and west to the beach. A great location for a beer, a dip, meal and a sermon/sing-along.
The service
We are singing children’s hymns – joyful and tuneful. I’m right in front of the upright piano and the chords are solid. I can sing along quite well without knowing the tune by singing the low tenor line from the chords. The PA (two hung Peavy 2-way powered boxes had a serious fault - only the horns were working, nothing below 200Hz. It sounded very horny. I have heard that fault many times.
In the hand-out we have seven prayer points. Each in our group extemporises on one of the points – a shared duty. If it looked like our group was running out of steam, the priest’s wife kicks it along, while holding a child who has left the stage. The stage kids do their spoken parts very well. They are cued by the Sunday school mistress. The priest’s eldest daughter, about nine, is word perfect.
The band
Competent and strong piano, guitar (priest’s wife), a cajón drum and drum kit. The cajón, essential in flamenco, provides a seat for the percussionist. The drum (hand percussion) generates interesting tones with a good sub sound. The pianist and percussionist carry the band; the guitar and drums are not audible from my position.
Structure
It being a special service run by the children the format was light-hearted, good songs and two five-minute group prayer sessions. I think a child read a very short bible verse.
The children’s leader asked us to guess how many times the word sing (400) and dance (27) appears in the bible. The message the children were telling us was to sing and dance for God. The children tutored us on an action song, and we had fun mimicking the movements and singing the words. The service concluded with a prayer, hymn and a blessing.
AV
The show was streamed live with the children blurred. A 24-channel digital desk and the usual generic PowerPoint sur title presentation. The PA had a fault that was probably caused by an outside hire who drove the PA to destruction. The only stage lighting was a profile lantern highlighting the big cross on the right side of the stage. Four par-cans were available to wash the stage (unlit) for an external hire or performance. I didn’t take note of the lighting control equipment.
Cohort
The congregation of 35 comprised a young teenage boy with his mother, 13 children (4 babies) their parents and remainder were middle aged and elderly. No youth group that I could pick out. I saw one elderly lady I knew through my swimming group, and she is also in our local (unofficial) history group. She (Pat) told the priest that this is the first time she has seen me fully dressed. She does that line every time we meet unexpectedly in other social settings. It had the priest guessing.
Outreach programmes
Bright & Light craft, Community Morning Tea twice monthly, Market Table & Missions BBQ last Sunday of each month, Solid Rock Fellowship for those struggling with mental health, and a Connect Lunch to share a meal with a church family on the third Sunday of each month. In all a very active church community and importantly, helping those with loneliness, poverty and mental/physical issues. Speaking with Pat in the Minda Rehab pool recently, she told me she always gets a few extra groceries when shopping to pop in the BaptistCare emergency relief box.
Reflections
It was a fun light-hearted service with an optimistic positive audience. The priest (Deon) boasted a congregation of seventy. The young man with whom I was sitting was shy and difficult to engage. I suspect slight autism. However, I can’t blame him, having to endure a garrulous 84-year-old next to him. The other young man (28) had just finished his engineering diploma and was looking for a job particularly using the CAD draughting system. He was attending with his mother and father. What stood out was the distinct lack of 11- to 18-year-olds. In the foyer as I was departing were a couple of men with intellectual and physical disabilities. The priest had to be firm with one young man not to engage with him because of his pastoral duties to others at that moment.
Again, a very nice good-hearted bunch of people demonstrating their Christian values with deeds.
However, In the foyer I was invited and declined lunch where the priest’s wife cornered me. She asked if she and her husband could pray for me – right there on the spot. It made me feel very uncomfortable and said no. I felt her and her husband’s actions were predatory and to refuse would offend, I chose to offend. A brief discussion on belief and I stated from an atheist’s point of view there can be no reconciliation between logic and faith. They did their best evangelically and we left it at that. I never learnt her name and that was my fault because I couldn’t understand the pronunciation. She wore the pants in that relationship - both with the congregation and her husband.
[1] The modern Church of Christ movement emerged from the Restoration Movement in the 1800s. Key leaders, such as Alexander Campbell, were formerly Baptist but broke away to pursue a non-denominational, "New Testament" church model.